Don’t constantly check Emails or Social Networks

If you want to get things done during the day, don’t constantly check your email or Facebook. Set aside time each day to go through your emails, maybe once in the morning, lunch, and evening. This will keep you from getting off task every ten minutes to sift through emails. As far as social networks go, set up your tweets or status updates ahead of time with apps like TweetDeck or Hootsuite. These web apps allow you to organize your social networks ahead of time and also allow you to keep track of mentions.

Set Your Agenda Weekly and Daily

One of the most basic principles of becoming organized and productive in business, is to create a schedule. A great practice is set up an agenda for each week on Monday mornings. This agenda would include meetings and project deadlines.

Each day before doing any work, set aside 10 minutes to write down your daily agenda, based on importance. Set your schedule in 60-90 minute intervals. This allows time for breaks or snacks. Constantly working for hours on end can cause a burnout and make you feel tired.

Don’t Multi-task

Switching back and forth from one task to another can cause distractions. Focus your attention on one thing at a time. This goes allow with the fact that you should create a schedule. There should be an allotted time in your day for everything that has to be done, whether that’s budgeting or interview a new hire. So stop multi-tasking throughout the day and make room for everything one at a time.

Sales Leads:

How do you treat your leads? Do you categorize them based on your previous experience with them? Take a list of leads and revisit them, either in person or by phone (depending on your franchise model). Pitch your product to them again, there was a reason they inquired about your services or products in the first place. A “no thank you” should make you keep going and possible convert some of those leads to new customers. By doing this, you haven’t spent any money and you know their interested.

Social Media:

If you don’t have the budget to run ads on social media sites, the next best thing to do is to emphasis your involvement on these sites. Keeping your message and products on the consumers mind is a highly effective sales technique. Start conversations on Facebook or Twitter where your product or services plays a role. Don’t make your product or service the topic of the conversation but rather a sub-topic. People love to talk about things that interest them and that’s not always your brand but it may include your product. If you have the budget, social media in conjunction with paid ads is a great way to continue outreach.

Stay In or Venture Out:

A great way to talk with potential customers is to venture out and meet them in person. Rent a booth at an expo, rent space in a busy shopping center, hand out coupons, speak to an audience about your business, have a small party where you invite current customers, etc.

If you don’t have time or money to venture out, stay in and nurture your leads. Send out thank you letters and email newsletters. Email newsletters are a great way to stay in touch with current customers and create new ones. Make sure you put ‘value’ into your newsletter, whether that’s a complimentary service, a coupon, or articles on the topic at hand.

Pros to owning a Cleaning/Maintenance franchise:

• Training and Support- Almost all franchises in this industry provide some type of support and training, whether its instructional DVDs and workbooks, or training you how to use the machines.
• Supplies- Cleaning franchises will usually have a list of vendors to use or vendors they use. This takes a lot of the guesswork out of what you should buy. This also allows to take advantage of group discounts that may be in place for certain distributors. But some companies may not allow you to use anyone

Is it a fit for me?

Investing time and money into a franchise opportunity is a major decision. Taking the time to sit down and thoroughly research each business is very important. Find something that you could see yourself happy doing. Same issues could turn into big issues, so finding one that has little to no conflict with you and your life is of the utmost importance.

How recognizable is the brand name?

Considering the Brand name could be, but doesn’t always have to be, a question you should discuss. A recognizable brand name, such as NAPA Auto Parts, is easier to recognize than lesser known brands. Having a business with a recognizable trademark/brand name makes marketing and connecting to customers that much easier.

You should also stop to think about how the brand will be received in the territory you want to do business in. Take for example the protests you may hear about concerning Wal-Mart or McDonald’s in smaller towns. Although Wal-Mart isn’t a franchise, it helps demonstrate that even though you may think people will want/need a certain type of business in their city, that’s not always the case. People are very vocal when they disapprove of a business.

What’s the success rate of existing franchises?

Success rates are one of the easier ways to find out how healthy a business opportunity is.  How many businesses are continuing to thrive? How many had issues and had to close their doors? Another great way to look into success rates is to talk with existing franchisees. When you meet with an existing franchisee, try to get their opinions on how the business is run. What is relationship like with the Franchisor? What kind of issues did they run into during their first year?

Do they offer training and support?

Almost all franchisors offer some type of training and support.  It’s imperative to find a franchise that offers some kind of training program and support. You wouldn’t want to jump into a business opportunity without having the knowledge to make a profit would you?

What kinds of fees are involved?

There are many fees in business and knowing which ones you’ll be paying in important. Some of the fees involved are royalty fees and franchising fees.  You’ll need to find out if these are by month, quarter, or year. Theses extra fees should be included when making a budget estimate for your first year in business.

As an entrepreneur, potential franchisee, or business owner, what effects do you think these Acts would have if passed? Do you think it would stunt the economic growth of America? Or do you agree with them as they are written?

We’d love to know your opinion! Take a minute and leave us a comment.

The franchise show will be free for veterans and $10 up front or $15 on-site for anyone else interested in learning more. Look forward to seminars on buying and operating franchises (an additional price). Lots of franchises to choose from; everyone from the UPS Store to No+Vello will be in exhibition.

Check out the Franchise Expo South website.

Think of your social media accounts (most likely you have a Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube page) as an extension of your franchise’s customer service. Before social media became popular, customers called or went back to the store to comment on services or products and resolve issues. But take a look at the social media accounts of some of the more popular brands in America. They use Twitter and Facebook as not only a viable solution for marketing but also to answer questions and concerns.

Customers keep your business alive, so keeping them happy is top priority. Say the customer emails your company about an issue with a product/service and you never receive the email, possibly because of a misspelled email address. When they don’t get a confirmation email within a few hours to a few days, the next step for many is to call but it’s becoming more popular to send out a tweet or post to a fan page. Customers know that people, not robots, have to monitor these pages, therefore their issue will be seen.

Even if you’re already on top of the situation, post a comment to let the person know you’re getting it taken care of. The worst thing to do is to ignore the post; people could take this as a sign of bad customer service or your company simply ignoring the issue at hand. Social media is about communication; use it to your advantage. Simply replying to a post or tweeting someone back can be great PR for your company.

Being an entrepreneur isn’t something that a person typically learns. Being an entrepreneur is all about a state of mind and how a person reacts to different situations. Almost every situation in life has multiple outcomes, entrepreneurs are those that find the best alternative and run with it, even when someone is yelling “No!” Being an entrepreneur is all about taking an idea, a business, or a service and making it into a viable solution. Does this sound like you already?

Although most entrepreneurs aren’t taught how to think this way, you can be taught to think in a more entrepreneurial fashion. There are tons of articles, blog, and videos on how to become an entrepreneur.

Take for example:

• Habits of Successful Entrepreneurs- Mike Michalowicz, Author of The Toilet Paper Entrepreneur talks about what he thinks are the top five habits of successful entrepreneurs
• Another take on being an entrepreneur, posted by TechCruch
• Top 10 Mistakes of Entrepreneurs- YouTube Video by Stanford School of Business

Entrepreneurship isn’t limited to a single sector in the business world, anyone who wants to be an entrepreneur can be: franchisees are no exception.

Do You have what it takes?

Start with this question: Do you have the gung-ho to take an idea, however small, and run with it? Yes? Well, can you handle countless No’s? Another question worth mentioning is: Do you have the work ethic and discipline needed to mature an idea, even if it means working longer hours?

Alright entrepreneur, what’s your idea? What do you want accomplish? A good way to start, I think, is too sit down and write out all your strengths and weaknesses. What jobs have you had in the past, better yet, what could you have improved on with those jobs?

This is where I’d start. I want to know exactly where I sit in relation to an idea or business proposal. Franchisees can use this same concept as far as being an entrepreneur but on a smaller scale.

Start thinking like an entrepreneur

As you know, many franchisors have already set up marketing material, advertisements, and customer/employee relation procedures. But don’t let that be the end of your idea, start thinking like an entrepreneur.

There is a fine line with being entrepreneurial in the franchising world because of the nature of the business. In franchising, you own the rights to distribute and/or use a name, you don’t own the business, so you’ll hear a lot of no’s. Franchisors spend a lot of time trying to make their business run at its highest levels, this includes limiting what can be customized.

Although NO will become a word you’ll start hearing a lot more, don’t let that stop your efforts. An entrepreneur continues when others won’t. So they said no to your marketing material revise…KEEP TRYING.

You are only limited by the boundaries you make for yourself.

We wouldn’t have all these great businesses to franchise if everyone stopped when they were told no.

Eco-friendly franchises are everywhere

Okay, now that we’ve enjoyed the holidays and enjoyed that great song, let’s talk franchising! People often ask me if I can refer them to eco-friendly (green) franchises. These people want to start a business but don’t want the large footprint it leaves on the environment.

There are tons of green franchises out there and you aren’t limited to a specific industry. Take for example BioSweep-

BioSweep is an innovative odor removal and indoor air and surface decontamination service. The company does not use any chemicals while decontaminating an area and as such, are considered ‘green’.

Or how about Rapid Recovery. Here’s a snippet from their profile page on franchisegator.com

Unlike many fad, green businesses that struggle to change consumer paradigms; recovery of refrigerants is common practice and is strictly enforced through aggressive fines from the EPA. With no true competitor, Rapid Recovery has positioned itself as the only nation-wide recovery company in the United States with locations servicing consumers from coast-to-coast.

Other options include:

• Junk-Away
• Oxi Fresh Carpet Cleaning
• CRAL
• Cartridge Depot
• Spring Green Lawn Care

Here’s a summary of what was said:

2011 forecast was 2.5% growth but in reality there was only a 1.9% growth.

2012 forecast is set at 1.9% growth and was issued by a new research firm, IHS Global. 2011’s report was issued by PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Quick–service restaurants, which make up the bulk of the franchising industry, are expected to continue growth. These businesses are also expected to continue providing of 35% of jobs to all franchise industries. Stephan Bronars, an economist with Welch Consulting in Washington D.C., believes the IHS study is “overly optimistic” because these business are directly tied to consumers discretionary spending.

Most franchisors, 55%, are expecting a moderate improvement as far as credit access is concerned. This is an improvement from 53% in 2010.

What do you think is the outlook for 2012? Let us know!